Manufacturers of software-controlled devices protect their software program parts and/or software programs, hereinafter called software components, by coupling with license information, which is generally polled at the start of the software component and makes it possible to block or release the software component. Software-controlled devices are often equipped with software components for basic functions and with software components for additional functions. The additional functions are, however, made available to the user only with the acquisition of corresponding licenses. This may take place simultaneously with the delivery of the software-controlled devices or at a later point in time.
To make available more device functions, license information is transferred to the user, which can release one or more software components, which make available the additional functions of the software-controlled devices. Protection against undesired multiple use of the software components license is of essential significance for the manufacturer of the software-controlled devices in providing the license information.
There are various possibilities for protection against multiple use. One possibility is to make the license information available to the user in the form of a hardware assembly unit that cannot be duplicated. The hardware assembly unit acts for the user as an access key to release the license-requiring software components on the software-controlled device, to which the hardware assembly unit is connected. However, it is disadvantageous in this case that the hardware assembly unit can always be connected at the same time to one and the same software-controlled device only. Expansion of the functionality of the software-controlled device in the form of a release of additional license-requiring software components can be carried out only by replacing the hardware assembly unit. Moreover, there is another drawback in the use of such a device in that a plurality of hardware assembly units are also needed in case of a plurality of licensors. A hardware assembly unit, which can be handled more flexibly and which is designed in the form of a chip card, is described in DE 100 01 126 A1. License information, which can be transferred to the license-requiring software components, is stored on the chip card. Neither a hardware assembly unit coupled with the software-controlled device nor a correspondingly designed chip card is mechanically permanently coupled with the software-controlled device, so that it is not guaranteed that the hardware assembly group will permanently remain at the software-controlled device. However, guaranteeing the functions of software-controlled devices is of great significance especially in the area of emergency medicine. In addition, an additional hardware assembly unit or another hardware assembly unit must be made available to the software-controlled device any time the functionality of the software-controlled device is expanded in the form of the release of corresponding software components.
Another possibility of providing license information is to link the license information to an unambiguous device identification, which cannot be changed. The protective mechanism of the license-requiring software components is coupled with the existing hardware component of the software-controlled device. A serial number of the hardware component can be permanently assigned to the license-requiring software components or entered in same already when the license information is shipped. However, the license-requiring software components cannot be run on another hardware with the same license information, this possibility would be necessary especially for providing the license information from another software-controlled device on the basis of a failure due to repair.
It is, furthermore, possible to determine all the license information available for the license-requiring software components of the software-controlled device in the form of a mandatory central registration at a central site. Before running one or more license-requiring software components, a corresponding polling would then take place at the central site and multiple use of the license-requiring software component would be registered. However, the registration of the correspondingly licensed software components at a central site has proved to be disadvantageous insofar as a connection must be established between the software-controlled device and the registration site before each use. However, especially software-controlled devices in the area of emergency medicine, for example, respirators, are used predominantly as mobile units, so that connection of the particular respirator to the registration site is difficult for checking the licenses.
It is known from EP 1 164 456 A1 that license information can be made available to a software-controlled device in the form of a computer-readable data storage medium. An identification number, which is sent to the software-controlled device, is generated for this purpose for the unambiguous assignment of the hardware recognition and license information from a hardware recognition of the computer-readable data storage medium, which recognition cannot be altered any longer, and from additional license information by means of a coding algorithm. An unambiguous hardware recognition, which can be entered on this data storage medium only by the manufacturer in the manufacturing process in which the computer-readable data storage medium is manufactured, is written in an area of the data storage medium, which is later only readable but no longer writable. The hardware recognition is assigned only once and is thus unambiguous. Expansion of software licenses with the goal of making available additional functional components of the software-controlled device by releasing software components that require a license is thus made difficult. Replacement of the computer-readable data storage medium would be necessary for the distribution of additional license information.